Meghan Murphy's bank account frozen on orders of Canadian government

[fromorbit]

She was planning to return to campaign in the election, it seems someone didn't like that:

The Canadian government froze my bank account just in time for the election
Looks like I won't be returning to Canada for the foreseeable future
https://www.meghanmurphy.ca/p/just-when-i-thought-the-canadian

So - having investigated this a bit more, what I am wondering is whether the issue is that she was a non-resident and didn't take the proper steps to have a non-resident bank account.

Basically, anyone that wants to maintain a Canadian account from another country has to do this, but it wouldn't be too hard for someone who lived here and moved not to realize they needed to do something to change their accounts.

Why the bank wouldn't tell her though I don't know, but it is a simpler explanation and she doesn't mention anything about it in the blog.

Hope you’re right Tempest. The idea that any government would deliberately debank its critics solely because they were critics is awful (but if it’s a residency issue, why on earth doesn’t her bank/the government office simply say so?)

The date is a bit coincidental to be a usual banking practice process though isn't it?

Ah, this sounds interesting. It’s true Canada is quite careful in how it manages residents and non-residents. Does Murphy live permanently in the US or Mexico now?

None of that would have applied to the truckers, though?

We’re not talking about the truckers, and Trudeau is no longer PM so trying to draw a straight line between them and Meghan Murphy needing to open a non-resident bank account is a bit gormless.

Meghan is a Canadian citizen and I think she is still entitled to have a Canadian bank account even if she currently lives abroad. However, there are issues around Canadian taxation rules, world wide income etc.

What has happened to Meghan is egregious. I hope she gets legal representation. Vancity (a credit union, not a bank) said "the government" made them freeze her account. What government (federal, provincial), what agency, what legislation, what regulations? Was Vancity complicit? A better use of government resources would be to go after the billions of dollars of fentanyl money being laundered through BC (one of the reasons for Trump's tariff war), than harrass a lone women fighting for women's rights.

Sure, she needs to ask lots of questions and get some decent customer service. But I think taking the little bank’s word for what they’re doing needs to be carefully examined, too. No need to go all Chicken Little in the first 5 minutes.

I don't know MM's residency status and yes, on the surface, this does sound like a simpler explanation. But when I think about it further, it requires me to believe two things:

First I would have to accept that it's standard practice for a bank to freeze the account of a long standing customer without first contacting her to explain that her account was in breach of regulations. (I say 'long standing' because MM has said on Twitter that she's banked with Vancity since she was 'like ten'.)

The second thing I would have to believe is that they would claim they were acting on government instructions rather than just explain the breach of rules.

Happy to wait and see.

Indeed.

This is scary. Remember how The Handmaid's Tale begins?

I have liberal US friends who tell me that I'm listening to scare news about the excesses of left wing /"woke" politics. And that it's in the interests of the right wing populists that I believe them.

Well, hmmmmmmm

It's amazing how long it takes so many people to understand that.

Ironically, A Handmaid's Tale has Canada as the safe refuge for women fleeing the former USA.

Not so surprising, with MA being Canadian. But certainly ironic.

I think they're far worse.

I don't know MM's residency status and yes, on the surface, this does sound like a simpler explanation.

I am a Canadian living in another country for 30 years. My Canadian bank account has never been scrutinised ... Would they freeze it if I decided to become a political candidate? Or only if I was a non resident Canadian deciding to become a political candidate who had iffy views? Which iffy views are considered beyond the pale (I might have them, they just don't know)? Non-resident Canadians would like to know.

Freezing bank accounts is scary stuff.

She had said in the piece that she had moved to Mexico.

You do have paperwork to fill out about accounts when you move out of the country, that's standard.

The timing might be more to do with the end of the tax season, if she's just filed her taxes?

The left wing are more totalitarian than the right - totalitarianism goes just dandy with socialism and communism. They only look different because they are interested in controlling different things.

All true. Canada has changed a lot under the influence of male supremacism.